One of my dreams is to see my name in a magazine. My ultimate wish is to be a magazine columnist. That’s why I was over the moon when I finally saw my name in print. It may be a small step in the publishing world but a big step for a small town girl like me.
If you are interested in reading the full article, go here.
Following your dreams, Freelance writing, Inspirational Stories | 
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On the well worn path toward the gold at the end of the rainbow, there will be many sidesteps along the way. Sometimes the road is unpaved and hard and there are no signs along the way to alert you where to go. And then you see a temporary haven, an easy way out, a shortcut towards your dreams. The question is do you take it?
Well if you have been reading my blog for a few weeks now, you know that I’ve favored saying yes in the past. That’s why you might be surprised to now read that I’ve had a change of heart. Maybe it is not always good to say yes to every opportunity. In fact, recently I have relearned the value of saying no.
Sometimes when we’re on our way to fulfilling our dreams it can seem like forever and the gap between where we are now until where we want to be can feel overwhelming. But oftentimes we can’t see how close we are to the end. We’re on our final lap and we don’t even know it but in our frustration we may give up too easily.
When we are feeling desperate, we start desiring anything and everything. You know the feeling you get when you’ve been dieting for too long and EVERYTHING starts to look good! Well that’s what happens when you feel like you’ll never get the relationship, the job, or that plum writing assignment you are dreaming of. Out of desperation you begin thinking of giving up. You might think to yourself, “I might as well just ___ (fill in the blank with your chosen act of desperation) because I won’t ever get to ______ (fill in the blank with your dream).”
Well I’m hear to tell you, “Just Say No!” Although the temptation may be great, taking that low paying job or that high paying job you hate just because you are worried you won’t ever get there will only get you even farther from your dreams. Stick to your goals. Remember why you came here in the first place. And don’t ever let your feelings of insecurites, self-doubt and desperation talk you into saying yes to living a life that’s less than the one that you deserve. You will get there with time, patience, hard work and the belief that you can really succeed. Trust me. Saying yes to opportunities you don’t believe in and that doesn’t fulfill you is less of an opportunity and more of a temporary shortcut, one that will undermine your hardwork and prevent you from living the life of your dreams.
It’s amazing what happens when you start making decisions based on what you want versus what you think you should do. Suddenly, things begin to fall into place and that’s when miracles can happen.
Oprah is a great example of someone who follows her true calling and has had several instances of pure magic. It’s a great reminder of what happens when we take risks to follow our dreams. She said once that after seeing a guest on her show make massive magical bubbles she also felt like blowing bubbles. Then, when she went up to her office she saw a bag filled with a bubblemaker from Tiffany’s. She thought someone had put it there because of the show but found that the bubblemaker had been sitting there the whole time.
I wholeheartedly believe that if you take steps to create a clear vision of what you want for yourself, these dreams can come true. Though the miracles may seem small, I believe that they are constant reminders that life is magical, if only we take the time to tune in and appreciate them.
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Maybe I haven’t entirely let go of my favorite TV show Scrubs yet, because today I thought about another poignant piece featured in the last episode. J.D. was watching his life as if it were a movie. Specifically, imagining all the amazing possibilities his future could bring like getting married, having more kids, and making memories with his closest friends. That image gave me goose bumps not because I was vicariously living through his character, but because it hit close to home.
It got me thinking about the importance of dreaming and visualizing fantasies of our own future. Obviously, no ones life turns out exactly the way we want them to be (unless you’re psychic), but it’s dreaming that helps motivate us and leads us to our goals.
The best part? You’re totally free to be the producer of your own movie without the fear of being judged or criticized for what you want. That means in my dreams, I can be a successful Carrie Bradshaw wannabe making enough money to buy tons of clothes not to mention shoes and enough time to hang out with my friends on a daily basis and still come up with witty, intelligent copy on a daily basis. Aw, to dream. It may not automatically make me a star but it’ll surely give me the chance to be the star in my own future movie. And that kind of reaction, well that can inspire real dreams to unfold gradually.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=War9m52LrV4&hl=en&fs=1]
Following your dreams, How to, Inspirational Stories | No Comments »
I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that ALL people regardless of social status and class, go through moments of uncertainty.
Though it’s easy to get lost in the familiar tunes of “woe is me,” it also doesn’t really suit your cause. If your cause is to fulfill your dreams. I just got this a few days ago as I was typing away thinking about how that BIG space in front of me that points to my future was still empty and I still didn’t understand how I would get from where I was standing to where I wanted to be. I started to fantasize about all of the successful people in my life and the ones on TV and thought about how they were so lucky that they had life figured out and didn’t need to think about these things like me. And then it hit me! They still had challenges like everyone else but maybe that mountain in front of them is that much bigger because they had already climbed all those bunny slopes before then. What a wake up call that was.
I thought about Oprah’s story the one that she tells of not knowing whether she could make it on TV and the funny moment when she pronounced Canada CON-YA-DA and started laughing live on camera. That’s when they put her on a morning talking show and in an instance she knew that that’s what she was meant to do. It reminds me a lot of hiking. When you see that mountain up ahead, sometimes it’s hard to struggle and put in the effort especially when there are days you doubt whether you’ll make it. But I realized that all you need to do when your in moments of self-doubt and uncertainty, is do what Finding Nemo’s Dory says, “Just keep swimming…” and somehow that blank empty space in front of you will transform into steps, tiny at first, but then it’ll become clearer and more certain and soon you’ll be there-right at your goal!
Facing Fears, Following your dreams, How to, Inspirational Stories | 2 Comments »
I was off on another mini adventure this weekend, and this time it was with my favorite mouse. Yes me and the hubs headed to one of our favorite destinations, Disneyland, for the upteenth time. Though we had tons of fun riding my all time faves like Pirates and Big Thunder, it was a different kind of magic that befell me and that inspires me to write this entry.
It all starts with my love of roller coasters. Let’s just say though I can’t get enough of them, they scare me to death. Even though I’ve ridden Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain a hundred times, I always get stricken with fear right before I get on. My husband thinks it’s funny that, for example, I always look down when approaching the gigantic mechanical snake in Indiana Jones because I’m too scared to look at it, or that I get so nervous before any ride even though I’ve been on it a thousand times. But here’s what’s so magical about it. I realized that these “rides” were symbolic of CHANGE in my life. Right before I get on, there’s a lot of waiting which leaves time for anticipation. And questions such as, “Can I handle this? What if I don’t like it?” make my palms sweat and my heart beat faster. I start to question whether or not I’m prepared for it. Then, I began to doubt myself. Wouldn’t it be easier, for example, if I just stuck with something safe like, “It’s a Small World”? Sure, it may be a big bore, but at least I know what I’m in for. Yet, though there are enough excuses not to try, there’s only one reason why you should. Because life isn’t supposed to be about predictability and safety. Life is about living. It is hard and it is challenging but it is meant to be fully lived.
And so in the end, I always take the plunge. Although I’m afraid of the challenge, I can’t risk what I’d be missing. And the result? Well it’s a lot like life. You feel the fear and adrenaline as you climb, but when you let go and move with the flow, it produces the most awesome kind of ride. The kind where you feel alive. While I was racing through the dark in sharp turns and unexpected dips, I screamed until my voice was hoarse but I was laughing at the same time, and I realized that this joy I was experiencing was not just the magic of Disney’s Magic Kingdom but that it was also about that magical little gift that we call life.
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I first began tracking my “signs” when I read a book called When GOD Winks on Love: Let the Power of Coincidence Lead You to Love by SQuire Rushnell. It was a tiny little book with a BIG message! It’s all about observing signs from God which Rushness calls a “wink” that tells you when you’re heading in the right direction. I actually began taking notice of these signs as far back as 2004 and notated everything from having a water bottle almost hit me on the head when I was extremely thirsty to finding a Masters program in a topic I was interested in while perusing a newspaper. Five years later, I’ll admit that I haven’t really been dedicated to my search for signs. That’s why when I had a “Godwink” moment today, I couldn’t wait to share it here.
Recently, I’ve been feeling the effects of modern day busyness. I often feel like my body can’t quite catch up with my mind. And the end result? I get sick and need to take time off to recuperate. And I know I’m not the only one. Lot of women feel the pressures to “have it all”: great relationship, successful career, perfect family life. And as Cher would say in my favorite 90’s movie Clueless, “As if!”
Recently, I wondered how I was going to continue to work full-time, exercise, write new articles and keep up with two of my blogs. Then, I got it! Literally. I got the answer to my prayers in a package that came from Amazon.com that I wasn’t expecting. And the title? The Life Organizer: A Woman’s Guide to a Mindful Year. The book is all about how to obtain your dreams and written for the busy woman. I know I must have ordered it, but I honestly don’t remember doing so. All I know is that I’m grateful to have received the right book at the right time in a Godwink and am SO looking forward to receiving more!
Following your dreams, Inspirational Stories | No Comments »
John and Sherry did it when they decided to go from advertising copywriters of a well-known ad agency to Sherry working full-time on their delicious blog This Young House. David Wroblewski nailed it when he went from successful software programmer to first time best-selling novelist of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. What do they have in common? They took that big leap into the world of the unknown.
At every fork in the road, we have two choices: we can either take the easy road and save our dreams for a rainy day or we can venture out even before we feel ready to meet fear head on and take that leap. Before I started writing again, I thought that I had to wait for something, for permission, a sign, anything, to make sure I was on the right path. What I learned was that to do something you want to do…you actually have to do it! What a concept. The difficult part, however, is to deal with the fears that starts to come up when you want your dream to be more than something that happens when you’re asleep. Questions like, “Will I be good enough?” start to creep up. Right now, I’m working on an article that hopefully will get published. It’s exciting yet scary. It’s easier to stay where you are then to take that big leap into the unknown. But whenever I get to that scary place, I remember that millions of people have already done what I’m doing, and they survived…even better than that is that they lived!
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